Monterey Park council directs staff to prepare housing-overlay ballot measure for November

The Monterey Park City Council unanimously directed staff to prepare ballot language for a housing-overlay measure intended to speed reinvestment of vacant commercial and industrial land into housing and mixed-use development.

Community Development Director Timothy Howe said the overlay would require voter approval to amend the land-use element and would not automatically rezone property. "The concept is to allow the city council to create housing overlays throughout the city," Howe said, adding that overlays would be followed by council-adopted zoning regulations and discretionary, parcel-by-parcel review. Consultant Dana Savanek summarized outreach showing residents want more walkability, retail and targeted multifamily housing.

Council members said they favored placing the concept on the Nov. 3 ballot while preserving local discretion over specific development standards. Councilmember Yang said she supported the approach and suggested reserving technical development standards for later public review; other members echoed the request for flexibility. The council asked staff to return by early August with draft language to meet election deadlines.

The staff presentation noted the measure would not apply to established residential zones and pointed to state planning obligations: staff said the city must plan for 5,257 new housing units under regional requirements. Council voted to direct staff to prepare the documents and ballot language; the motion passed unanimously.